Automatic annunciator.



No. 699,275. 7 Patented May 6, I902.

J. A. WOTTON.

AUTOMATIC ANNUNCIATOR.

[Application filed June 10, 1901.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shaet l,

3 nwn ioz (Wt 061166- 7. 14522012, W

2 41 WW MW "m: Nana's PETERS c0. Pnomm'ua, WASHINOYON, n. c.

Patented May 6, I902.

J. A, WOTTUN.

AUTOMATIC ANNUNCIATOR.

Application filed June 10, 1901.

2 she'ets sheet 2.

(No Model.)

Witnamo attozwu a w: noqms PETERS cu, wm'mumm 'msmuorom c.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

JAMES A. WOTTON, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR TO WVOTTON ELEC- TRIC &MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF GEORGIA.

AUTOMATIC AN N-U NCIATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 699,275, dated May 6,1902.

Application filed June 10, 1901.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that L'JAMES A. WoTToN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county ofFulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Annunciators; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same. p My invention relates to improvements inmechanism for automatically resetting annunciators; and it consists in asolenoid provided with a divided core, one portion there of being longerthan the other portion, the shorter portion of which is connected withthe mechanism of an annunciator and the longer portion of which isadapted by its momentum when moved in the coil of the solenoid tomomentarily actuate the said shorter portion. and accomplish theresetting operation.

It also consists in certain other novel constructions, combinations, andarrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 representsa rear elevation of anannunciator, showing the improved resetting mechanism arranged therein.Fig. 2 is'a front elevation of the face-plate of thej annunciator,showing the needles or pointers mounted thereon. Fig. 3 is a detail rearelevation of the resetting-slide mounted: inside'the face -plate. Fig. 4isa vertical central section through the face-plate and the pointersmounted thereon, some of the coils and magnets for moving the pointersbeing shown in side elevation. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectionthrough the central portion of the annunciator, taken on a line of oneset of magnets which are employed for operating the pointers of theannunciator; Fig. ,6 is a detail View, partially in section andpartially in elevation, of the solenoid.

It is very desirable in many instances to use annunciators which areprovided with a suitable means for automatically resetting the pointersor indicators whenever a new call is to be registered. By my invention Ican proformedin the face-plate.

$erial No. 63,919. (No model.)

duce a mechanism Whichis particularly well adapted for such a purpose.

While my invention is well adapted for use in annunciat'ors of variouskinds, I preferably employ the same in connection with an annunciatorsuch as that described and claimed by me in an application for a patentfiled by me upon even date herewith. I have therefore illustrated in thedrawings an annunciator of this kind and shown my improved re settingmechanism applied thereto.

The annunciator comprises a casing 1, in which a call-bell mechanism 2is mounted, and an indicating faceplate 3, upon the rear side of whichare mounted a series of magnets 4 4, which have poles projecting throughthe face-plate at the sides of indicating-pointers 5 5, which arepivotally mounted on the face of said plate. The pointers 5 5 arepivoted to studs or pins 6 6 on the face-plate and are provided withtangs or projections 7 7, which project through segmental recesses 8 8,The pointers are adapted to be drawn to one side or the other, so as todirect the attention to one or the other of suitable indications on theface-plate, being attracted by the poles of the magnets 4 4. Thepointers are preferably slightly magnetized, so that after the poles ofthe magnets have become demagnetized the pointers will be'still heldagainst the said poles, requiring a further mechanism and operation forreturning them to their normal neutral positions. For positivelyresetting the point ers I mount a reciprocating slide 9 upon the rearface ofthe'plate 3, the said slide having elongatedslots 1O 10 forengaging the pivotpins 7 of the pointers. The said slots 10 10 areformed with flaring segmental end portions, as 11 11, which when theslide is in its lowered position coincide with the segmental slots 8 8in the faceplate 3. thesefiaring portions 11 11 converge toward theelongated slots 10 10, so that when the slide is lifted the tangs of anyof the pointers which may have been moved toone side-will be brought toa verticalplane passing through The sides ofthe pivots of the saidpointers, whereby the pointers will be positively brought back to theirnon-indicating positions. This slide 9 can of course be raised manuallyfor resetting the pointers, and for this purpose a rod, as 12,is'arranged to pass through the bottom of the annunciator and engage ahorizontallybent portion 13 of the slide, the said rod being providedwith an operating knob or handle 14 atits lower end. In order, however,to reset the pointers automatically at the time each new call is made, Ilocate a solenoid 15 within the annnnciator-casing and above the coils44 and the slide 9. This solenoid is preferably a double one, beingformed with two hollow cores 16 16, mounted on a suitable supportingbase-plate 17, which is arranged within the annunciator. Extendingthrough the hollow coils 16 16 are movable divided cores, the lowerportion .18of each core being made considerably longer than the upperportion 19 thereof. The lower cores 18 are secured together by across-plate 20, while the upper cores 19 are connected by a plate 21. Ared 22 passes downwardly between the coils 16 16 and through aperturesformed in the plates 21, 17, and 20. A nut 23 on the upper end ofsaidrod suspends the same from the plate 21. Below the plate 20 is a pair oftappet-n uts 23 23,suitably spaced apart and adapted to receive betweenthem the'bifurcated upper end 21- of the plate 9. It will be seen thatby this construction if the upper plate 21 is raised the rod 22 will belifted and the slide 9 also lifted to reset the pointers. In resettingthe pointers of an annunciator by the impulse of a new call thereleasing of the old pointers from their magnets should be performed insuch a manner as not to interfere with the setting of the pointer forthe new call. When the solenoid is energized, the tendency of coursewill be to draw the cores to a central position in the hollow cores.With the divided cores above described the lower,longer,and heavierportions 18 18 will be moved upwardly under the action of the coils 16,and they are made of sufficient size and length in proportion to theparts 19 19 so that they will gain sufficient momentum to strike theshort cores 19 19 and raise them, together with the rod 22 and the slide9, to the limit of their motion, when the said long cores 18 18 willdrop again below the central positions in the coils which they strove toreach because of their gravity, their weight being sufficient tocounterbalance the effect of the current passed through the coils 16 16after the first impulse. It will be seen that the pointers will thus beinstantly reset upon the first impulse passing through the coils of thesolenoid, while the current will be of long enough duration to set thepointer for the new call on the faceplate. The wiring of the annunciatorfor the pointermagnets and the bell-magnets is preferably arranged inthe usual manner; but the current passing through the bell-magnet ispreferably divided and a portion of it .passed through the coils 16 16of the solenoid, this being accomplished by connecting the said coils 1616 by wires 25 and 26 with the contact-pieces 27 and 28, with which thebellmagnet 2 is connected through the wires 29 and 30. The wire 26 isalso connected with the common return-wire 31 of the pointermagnets. Themovement of the lower cores 18 18 and the plate 20, carried thereby,will have no effect upon the rod 22,except through the agency of theshort cores 19 19 and the upper plate 21, since the plate 20 looselysurrounds the said rod 22 and moves freely with the pointers by thesolenoid will not interfere with the manual operation of the slide 9should it be desired to reset the pointers by hand. It will be observedalso that by the use of the above-described mechanism itis possible fortwo or more indications to show on the annunciator, because if while thetwo parts of the core are held together under the action of the currenta second or third or any number of other calls come in all will beregistered. This is a valuable function of the device, producingimproved results in mechanisms of this kind.

The mechanism will be seen to be exceedingly simple in its structure,easy to manufacture, and yet not likely to get out of order easily.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A solenoid for imparting a momentary movement to reset aununciatorsor other similar mechanism, comprising a hollow coil and two coresextending into the opposite ends thereof, one of the said cores beinglonger and heavier than the other, and so arranged that when anelectrical impulse is passed through the coil the larger core will begiven an impulse, the momentum obtained thereby causing the said largercore to momentarily go beyond the point to which the current alone wouldmove it so as to actuate the shorter core, the said larger core thenbeing returned to the point out of engagement with the short core whereit is held by the current until it is interrupted, substantially asdescribed.

2. A solenoid for imparting movement to a suitable mechanism, comprisinga pair of hollow coils, comparatively long connected cores extendinginto said coils, comparatively short connected cores also extending intosaid coils, the connection which joins said short coils being connectedwith the mechanism to be operated, and means for sending an electricalimpulse through the coils, the structure being such that the long coreswill be drawn inwardly in the coils so as to gain sufficient mo mentumto carry them still farther so as to strike the short cores foractuating the mech- .anism connected therewith, after which the longcores will be separated from the other cores by gravity, and will fallback to the point where the current holds them, the said long cores thendroppingto their lowest position when the current is interrupted,substantially as described.

3. A mechanism for actuatinga resetting device for annunciators,comprising, a solenoid made up of a hollow coil, a divided core adaptedto reciprocatetherein'one portion of where the current holds it untilthe current is interrupted the reset mechanism being given a momentaryactuation, substantially as described.

4. In a resetting mechanism for annuncia- K tors the. combination with areciprocating pointer-controlling slide of a rodfor lifting the same, asolenoid made'up of a pair of hollow coils, a pair of short coresconnected with each other and withthe lifting-rod, a pair of long coresconnected with each other and extending well in to the coils,and meansforenergizingthe coils whereby the long cores will be drawn inwardly,gaining sufficient momentum to overcome gravity momentarily and strikethe short cores and lift the annunciator-slide, after which theywillfall back out of engagement with the short cores to the point wherethe current holds them until said current is broken, substantially asdescribed.

5. In-ga resetting mechanism for annunciators the combination with areciprocating slide adapted to positively release the point-- ers of thesaid annunciator, of a lifting-rod for operating the said slide, asolenoid provided with hollow coils arranged on either side of the saidrod, divided cores extending into the opposite ends of the said coils,one pair of cores being shorter than the other, a plate connecting theshort cores and engaging the lifting-rod, a plate connecting the longcores and moving freely with respect to the said lifting-rod, andrmeansfor passing an electrical current through the coils whereby the longcores will be drawn inwardly so as to engage, and lift the short coresand momentarily raise the lifting-rod, after which when the current isinterrupted by releasing the pushbutton the said long cores will dropout of contact with the short cores because ofthe action of the force ofgravity, substantially as described.

6. In combination with an annunciator, of a reset mechanism thereforcomprising asolenoid having hollowcoils, divisible cores moving therein,one portion of each core being longer and heavier than the other portionthereof, a reset-slide adapted to returnthe pointers of the annunciatorto their normal positions, connected with the short portions of the saiddivided cores,suitable wiring for leading part of the call-bell currentof the annunciator through the solenoid-coils, whereby upon the circuitbeing completed for a new call the energizing of the solenoid-coils willimpart momentum to the long cores and force them momentarily against theshort cores for actuating the reset-slide, thestructure being such thatif other calls come in while the coils are energized, theywill beindicated, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature inpresence of twowitnesses.

JAMES 'A'. WOTTON.

